Real Madrid and Club América play a friendly on Tuesday, July 26 as part of the Soccer Champions Tour 2022. The game takes place in San Francisco and marks the second time they've squared off in this city through five total historical meetings.
The first time they faced off in the Golden City was on Aug. 4, 2010. A friendly at the now extinct Candlestick Park saw the teams preparing for the 2010-11 season with perhaps the most entertaining match of their short rivalry.
In the match, José Mourinho began his journey as Real Madrid coach, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a free kick, the Karim Benzema and CR7 partnership began to terrify opponents, a young Memo Ochoa was in goal, América and Real made comebacks and a total of five goals were scored — vintage soccer.
However, as expected, the teams and squads we see now are not the same as the ones from 12 years ago.
Real Madrid Starting XI
Mourinho’s debut lineup as Madrid manager consisted of many familiar names: Dudek, Juanfran, Pepe, Garay, Marcelo (captain), Gago, Pedro León, Lassana Diarra, Canales, Benzema and Ronaldo.
The likes of Casillas, Kaká, Di María, Khedira and Van der Vaart were on the bench (Sergio Ramos wasn't available).
Club América Starting XI
Las Águilas, coached by Manuel Lapuente, lined up with Ochoa, Mosquera, Oscar Rojas, Jesús Sánchez, Rosinei, Israel Martínez, Montenegro, Pardo (captain), Esqueda, Vicente Sánchez and Vuoso.
Highlights of the 2010 Match
Remaining Players on Both Teams
The only remaining players in the starting lineups are respective club legends Ochoa (América) and Benzema (Real Madrid), both captains of their teams in 2022.
Meanwhile the two remaining active players, Miguel Layún (América) and Nacho (Real), came off the bench in the second half.
Soccer Champions Tour
Tuesday is Real Madrid’s second preseason match after losing El Clásico against Barcelona in Las Vegas last Saturday.
Following the defeat, we'll probably see a rotated squad with the likes of Karim Benzema, who missed the game last weekend, making an appearance for at least 45 minutes.
América, on the other hand, is coming off a three-game losing streak (Chelsea, Manchester City and Tijuana). Like in their other preseason matches, the 13-time Liga MX champions will probably start off with a mixture of starting and rotational players, most likely with Ochoa on goal, the formula used in their last two friendlies.
Even though Las Águilas have lost to the English giants, Carlo Ancelotti can expect a tough game — he can ask Jack Grealish about that.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how both teams react after losing games where they both failed to get a shot on goal.
